Anime Review: Natsume Yuujinchou

Today I will review:

Natsume Yuujinchou

When you watch an anime there are certain things that we all look for. They are as follows: Character Development, Artistic Appeal, Opening and Ending Originality and Interestingness, and Plot Complexity. These are our FOUR anime judging qualities and by reviewing this way we can avoid spoilers, I think. So let's begin!

Summary

Madara as Nyanko-sensei

Natsume Yuujinchou means Natsume and the Book of Friends. The book of friends was left to Natsume after his grandmother passed, inside it are names of Youkai or Lost Spirits that she has made to be her servant. Like her, Natsume can also see youkai while most normal people cannot. Natsume has been haunted by this and by the youkai that want to take the book of friends by force. However, Natsume made friends with a powerful cat spirit named Madara and nicknamed Nyanko-sensei. Nyanko protects him as he goes on numerous quests to find out more about the world of youkai, his grandmother, the meaning of the book of friends.

 

 

Nyanko-sensi as Madara

Character Development

Natsume yuujinchou is a slice of life anime. Some aspects are shonen especially when Nyanko-sensei fights off the other youkai. The true purpose of the anime is to be a slice of life anime, so the main focus is relationships. Natsume meets many different youkai some of whom are friendly, some need time to warm up, and others are not friendly. Natsume forms connections with ALOT of different youkai over the 39 episodes or so that are out so far. Natsume also makes human friends which is challenging for him because he is always interrupted by youkai...

A Youkai Party

Artistic Appeal

First of all, Nyanko-sensei is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue. The voice of Hatake Kakashi in naruto and many other tough guy characters. This anime is a piece of his seiyuu prowess because he plays a witty high pitched cat. And wow Natsume's voice actor Hiroshi Kamiya was Mephisto in Ao no exorcist which is a stretch of the imagination too. The visual art in this anime is also amazing, the style is unique and tries to be realistic in terms of hair colors and faces. The youkai are drawn with a flair of imagination.

Opening and Ending Originality

My favorite opening and ending

The openings and endings of this show are very calming and relaxing. Even the one I posted is calm, for being the most up beat opening of the whole series. Whenever you need to relax just watch these openings and endings... 

Plot Complexity

This anime is more of an episodic anime. There's no overarching quest that the characters are facing that continues. In fact this anime takes a break after every 13 episodes, I'm currently hoping for the next season to come out. With each season more characters are introduced and in the last season some bad guys were introduced which is interesting. Each episode is a new story and has a really good plot and substance. Character development always continues in this show. It's a great show to watch when you want to relax or when you want to be intrigued. Some of the supernatural occurances in the show made me think about life. That's why its Slice of Life!

Overall: Recommended

Because Natsume's friends are just like you...

Anime Review: Astroboy 2003

I'll be reviewing Astroboy 2003 tonight! 

Read on for more!

When you watch an anime there are certain things that we all look for. They are as follows: Character Development, Artistic Appeal, Opening and Ending Originality and Interestingness, and Plot Complexity. These are our FOUR anime judging qualities and by reviewing this way we can avoid spoilers, I think. So let's begin!

Summary 

Astroboy is a story that has changed many times over the years. The original story by Tezuka Osamu was aired in the 1960's and had one hundred and ninety something episodes. The 2003 version is the newest anime version out. In this version, Dr. Elefun/Dr. OShea (in the english dub) awakens a humanoid robot that it's creator Dr. Tenma discarded. Dr. Elefun dubs the boy robot Astro and takes on the role of being his mentor and foster father. Dr. Tenma though is jealous and to keep a hold in Astro's life he organizes challenges and enemies for Astro to face because Tenma wants him to become the strongest robot. The world that they live in is racist against robots because humans believe that robots should not be intelligent or have emotions. It's up to Astro to bring the humans and robots together, with the help of his foster father Dr. Elefun or Dr. OShea.

Character Development 

I actually haven't seen the other astroboy series so I don't know how much better or worse the character development is compared to them. I can comment on the character relationships in this show. In this version Dr. Oshea or Dr. Elefun (in the japanese) is like astroboy's father. Unlike the other series' Dr. Oshea doesn't create Astro robotic parents. He IS Astro's father in this one. Dr. Tenma is Dr. Oshea's rival. The theme is based on their rivalry as Astro's true father figure. Dr. Oshea does create Astro a sister, who is called Zoran in the english series. The main bad guy robots or rivals are Pluto, Atlas, and the Blue Knight. 

Artistic Appeal

This series is done with the same style as Tezuka's orignal Astroboy series. The only difference is that the colors are newer. Tezuka's artistic style is unique and very cool to watch!

Opening and Ending Originality

If you watch this show dubbed in English you're killing yourself in this category. There is no opening and ending for the American version, only instrumentals. But if you watch the show in Japanese, there are cool openings and endings. See the second opening at the beginning of this post which is by M-flo and Chemistry.

Plot complexity

I don't know about the other Astroboy plots. However the first astroboy being 190 something episodes must have more plot complexity and it was created directly by Tezuka Osamu. This version had episodic plotlines but there was a overarching story behind Astro's origins and the rivalry between Dr. Oshea and Dr. Tenma. Astro's fights with other robots are very short and if you're looking for shounenesque training and fights you're not going to find it as much. But the tensions between the rivals in this show are very good and worth watching.

Overall: Recommended

Darn Good Video Games, Part 1

Hiya it's RPGHero bringing you my newest post series, "Darn Good Video Games"

In this series, I'll be posting about really really good video games. And like my name implies, they'll be mostly RPGs. There might be a general multi-player game mixed in sometimes though.

Today's Darn Good Video Game is:

Persona 4

Persona is a video game series that started out as a straightforward ghost/monster/demon killing RPG. And over the installments, they have added more and more story and interactive capabilities. The latest installment being Persona 4.

The plot is intense!! 

Well you're a kid that just moved to a rural town in Japan. All of a sudden a horrifying murder occurred.
As you're getting used to your new life you meet friends. They peer pressure you into trying an urban legend where you watch tv on a rainy night at midnight. Before you know it (because you and friends think there's a clue to the murders) you're going on adventures and beating monsters in a parallel universe behind the TV. 

There's also alot to do in real life though. You can hang out with people and build relationships...

This game is loosely based on a two things. Mythology and Jungian psychology. How is a game based on psychology??? Well throughout the game you are collecting and using "Persona" to fight monsters. The persona, being a facade used to overcome life's difficulties... both in the game and in Jung's theory. And even in the game they will make many references to Jung. However the personas are actually mythological creatures, which is a creative (AND POSSIBLY FAKE) addition to Jung's theory.

The music is pretty good, the battle music and opening music is unique, it has vocals!!!

The graphics are alright... There are no Hi-def cutscenes but for a PS2 game the constant gameplay graphics are pretty good.

If you like RPG's, being the most popular guy in school, fighting ghosts, solving murders, oracles, and urban legends... Then head down to the local video game store and pick this game up!!!

I give it a 4/5 ^^